//------------------------------// // [21] The Seeds of Darkness // Story: The Chronicles of a Lost Angel [Refined Edition] // by Nova Borealis //------------------------------// Necra I'm flying away from the ruins of the Crystal Empire with Shining and the heart aboard. The scanner alerts me of an unknown force fallowing us. "What is it?" asked Shining Armor. "Something's fallowing us, it's jamming the comms so we have no contact with Alpha Base, and from the looks of it we'll half to lose it before we go home." I say as I weigh my options. "This is a spaceship, couldn't you just fly into space?" suggested Shining Amor. "Every starship has two modes. Atmospheric and Space mode. Serena locked space mode and I don't know how to override the system." I said. "So that means?" asked Shining Amor, clearly not knowing what this means. "It means we'll half to either kill it, or outrun it..." as soon as I finish saying this I smirk as I kill the engines to get behind the object. It appears to be a black fighter ship made of crystal with a dark magic origin. The fighter is primary triangular shaped with 2 large wings on either side of it loaded with unknown magic based weapons. The scans show that this ship has large amounts of dark magic inside of it that seems to be jamming the comms. I fire the main cannons at it, only for it to fly out of the way moments before I pull the trigger. "Are you insane!? You'll kill us both if you fight that thing!" said Shining, still not trusting a "Bug Pony" as some would call my kind. "If we let that thing go then it'll only mean bad news for everyone! It needs to be eliminated before it does any real damage!" I yell as the enemy ship flips around and flies right at us, firing dark beams of magic at us, I barrel roll as I steer the ship upward an to avoid getting shield damage. As I do this I give more power to the engines to gain more speed. (The actual term is aileron roll. This is for all you Star Fox and Game Theory fans out there) "Buckle up, it's about to get bumpy!" I say as Shining grabs the heart and straps into the passenger seat in the back of the ship. I reach the stratosphere and kill the engines once more to let as fall to the ground below. Shining is screaming as we fall through the sky towards the enemy ship who is flying right at us, scans show that the enemy ship has limited range yet my guns have longer range. I fire the double P cannons at the enemy ship as I fall. An alarm appears on my HUD indicating a collision impact is imminent and the shields are going down after impacts from enemy fire. I stop firing the cannons, do a force recharge of the energy shields, and turn on the engines and set them to full power. I fly straight towards the enemy ship at full thrust, yet to my dismay I struggle to maintain control of the ship and nearly miss my target. The X Caliber slices through one of the enemy ship's wings, causing it to struggle to maintain balance due to uneven distribution of mass as the other wing falls to the ground below. The ground is coming up alarmingly fast so I pull up as hard as I can to stop us from crashing. We completely eliminate an innocent pine tree with the force, causing it to snap in half as it starts to catch fire due to air temperature. With my flight path stable I fly towards Ponyville. Just as the ship leaves the scan radius of the enemy ship I detect sudden spike of dark magic. "Is...it over?" asked Shining Amor as I take a sigh of relief. "Yes...at least for now..." I say, suspecting this may not be the last we see that ship. "Are the comms working?" asked Shining. "Yeah...I'll put them on." I say as I call Alpha Base "Hello Necra, I trust the mission was a success?" said Serena. "Well, sorta, we got the crystal heart but we have a little situation..." I say as I think of a way to describe what just happened. "What is it?" said Serena in a more serious tone. "When we got to the city my scanners picked up large amounts of abnormal amounts of dark magic. We also saw shadowy figures when we got to the heart. And when we got back to the ship we were pursued by an unknown ship with an unnatural amount of dark magic powering it." I explain. "I think it was after the crystal heart." added Shining. "Whats your status?" asked Serena, I detect a hint of concern in her voice. "No damage was sustained on our end." I said. "I may need to test out the experimental drones sooner then originally planed." said Serena. "I look forward to the research. I'll be home soon." I said as I terminate the call. About 34 seconds of flying later we renter Alpha Base airspace once more. Ponyville is still colorful as usual. I fly us over Alpha Base and descend to position the X Caliber next to the Sirus's hanger bay 5. I fly into it, land the ship and jump out. Shining climbs down with the Heart as I face away from him, contemplating on what may transpire in the future. "Thanks..." said Shining as he walks past me with the Heart in his magical grasp, yet I sense that he forced himself to lie to me with that hallow complement. I fallow him. "With all that's happened on the past few months...I think it's safe to say that this has all brought us together..." I say to Shining, who just gives me a puzzled look. "Their's a rouge angel inside a near by planet that could easily rip our throats out. The Crystal Empire is in the hooves of those monsters, and our ponies are in refugee camps...how can you be optimistic in our situation?" said Shining in a stressed tone. "Chrysalis never thought to wonder what the emotional impact of her attempt to take Equestria would have...revealing the changeling race to this nation in such a negative way has degraded our repartition with your kind...making you see us as emotional vampires that thrive on your love only to be sucked dry, just so we can live." I pause for a moment as I recall the data from the Sirus's archives. "War may have brought many tragedies...but with it it has forced life to put aside their differences long enough to achieve a single goal." I say to Shining. "Equestria and it's allies have not seen war for 1,000 years...how would you know that?" said Shining, clearly being skeptical with in reason. "The Sirus has archived data of many civilizations. Many have seen war, yet I have read up on the topic enough to know that if group of nations face a common enemy, then they will eventually put aside their pasts and fight to vanquish that enemy. On a far away world, a species by the name of humans once had to face a threat like no other before that time. A dictator who wanted to exterminate an entire people for religious reasons to such an extent...that all forms of genocide before it were laughable. Adolf Hitler killed 7 million people in a war that killed an estimated total of 50 to 80 million people...yet the nations that were once sworn enemies put aside their previous conflicts and took down not only Hitler's invasion, but also 2 other enemy nations. Three nations with large military power were ultimately taken down by the teamwork of the entire world." I explain, only for Shining to slow down and contemplate one what I just said. "...And we need to do the same...or we'll end up dead...But what about Serena? She systematically killed entire galaxies." said Shining, still skeptical, but curious about Serena's past. "I...don't think she's proud of that...I think she just needs a friend. A shoulder to cry on as some would say." I say as I recall back to her sudden change in emotional status after her battle with Epsilon. We make it to the door at the end of the hanger that leads to a hallway, when it opens however Serena is standing before us. To a being who cannot read the current emotional status of those around them, she would seem neutral, but I see her great sadness with in her right now I'm guessing she heard some of that. Serena "...I never wanted to be a weapon..." I say to the exiled queen and the prince, I get no reply. "The crystal heart seems to be ok, but I'll need to run some tests on it before we conduct the research." I say after a few seconds of silence. "Oh! yes, of corse, but I want one of my guards to keep an eye one you." said Shining. "I see no reason why you would be protective over something that is only useful to your ponies if I complete my work on this project." I say to the needlessly skeptical Shining Armor. His eyes twitch slightly as a spark of violet color can be seen within them, only appearing for a moment. "I'm just taking extra precautions." said Shining. "Even after I risked my life for the crystal heart and Serena fighting Epsilon?" said Necra plainly. "You are a master of manipulation your highness, you only got the heart because it gives of divine love! And you! Mis...Queen of the Sky DESTROYED the Crystal Empire!" said Shining Armor. "And if I did nothing then the world as you know it cease to exist." I say to the Prince before me. "The Elements of Harmony could have stopped her, we don't NEED your help." said Shining as he tries to storm off, only for me to quickdraw my CRGGs and fire a single ballistic round near his hooves. "Your elements of harmony cannot harm a being that is powered by one of the 6 forces of the universe. Epsilon is the epitome of AI rampancy in the history of the Harmonic Empire. She has killed angels like me that are far more skilled in combat and better equipped. What I DID to your sorry excuse of a country is nothing compared to what I have seen and done, let alone what Epsilon would have done if I did nothing. And your kind has stumbled into a fight you have no possible hope of winning with out my help because their is no force any one here can even hope to comprehend that can compete with what is out there. I am fixing your city out of kindness, not because I half too. I suggest you give me the heart before you doom your ponies to be homeless." I say with a noticeable amount of anger in my voice as my expression matches this emotion as well as my blood red eyes apparent due to my targeting system. Shining stood before me, shocked at what I said to him. "Over my dead body." said Shining as he dares to challenge me. "O-ok! Why don't we just calm down and settle this over some tea!? That sound good!?" said Necra in an attempt to calm us down. "If you keep the heart for yourself your only hurting your citizens." I say as I try diplomacy once more. "And how do I know you won't shatter it and feed it to your pet?" said Shining Armor, Necra recoiled back at that insult, I stand my ground and deploy my wings. "What logical purpose would that serve? In fact...you have no logical reason to argue with me regardless of what you think of me. Your inside an almost fully operational starship with internal defenses that could kill you due to respiratory failure inside a base that is armed with turrets with advanced targeting systems. Sentinels patrol the area, and to top it off...I am standing in front of you. You saw what I did to Luna, even if you were to put up a shei-" I say as Shining interrupts me by firing a single beam of magic at my face and runs in the opposite direction down the hall. I lunge at him and kick him into a portal summoned by the teleportation grid to the camp outside as he forcefully loses grasp of the heart, making it fall in my hands. Necra slowly walks up behind me and puts one of her hooves on my shoulder. "I'll always be there for you..." said Necra in a comforting voice. "Y-yes...thank you...Necra." I say.